CHINA would overtake the United States to become the world s biggest grocery market next year and by 2015 it would be joined in the top five by Russia, as well as India and Brazil, according to a study published Saturday.
International food and grocery analysts IGD forecast China s grocery market would top 1.02 trillion euros (US$1.4 trillion) in 2015, putting it ahead of the United States on 843 billion euros.
That compares with 2010 figures which saw the United States rack up 666 billion euros in grocery sales, ahead of China s 597 billion.
By 2015, India would be in third place, with a grocery market worth 428 billion euros, ahead of Russia on 394 billion and Brazil on 330 billion, IGD said, adding its forecasts assumed exchange rates remained at their average levels for 2010.
That would see Japan, third placed in 2010, drop out of the top five, India move up from fourth to third and Russia from seventh to fourth.
Brazil was expected to retain the fifth position it captured in 2010 by overtaking France.
In 2015, the combined grocery markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China will be worth 2.194 trillion euros and they will have a collective population of more than 3 billion people, said IGD chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch.
Many retailers and manufacturers have already built a strong presence in these countries, but for those that haven t, it is vital that they incorporate the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) markets into their strategic planning in order to sustain business growth. (SD-Agencies)
